Is the Boston Area in Nuclear Danger?

A recent article at Truth-Out.org leads one to believe that the Boston area could be in danger from a major accident at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.

The article points out that “Cape Cod isn’t the only place in Massachusetts that would suffer from a major accident at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth. Only 35 miles away, the Boston area and its suburbs are also at risk.”

Boston Area at Risk?

While the Obama administration continues to promote the “clean” aspects of nuclear power and to subsidize private plants, the aging Pilgrim facility poses safety risks for the coastal residents of Massachusetts that trump any climate-change benefits.

Consider first that Pilgrim, completed in 1972 with technology from the 1950s and ’60s, was licensed for 40 years (to 2012). Its GE Mark 1 reactor is the same type that failed at Fukushima. Designed to contain 880 spent fuel assemblies, Pilgrim now holds more than 3,200.

An important aspect of the Pilgrim risk is emergency preparedness. Neither Cape Cod nor points north, including the Boston area, seem to have a workable plan for radiological emergency in place. How would local populations be notified, sheltered or evacuated? How could evacuations of persons near the plant be coordinated with the likely traffic heading out of Boston and the Cape? What could prevent the chaotic gridlock of cars heading in both directions?

All 15 Cape Cod towns have called for Pilgrim’s closure. Do you think it’s time for Boston and its suburbs to join them in that effort – and for people who reside near other aging nuclear plants to take notice?